Secco, Zero’s best friend in This World Can’t Tear Me Down, seems to be unaffected by most things around him, but he does help Zero make the right choice when the time comes.
In This World Can’t Tear Me Down, Secco is one of a kind. He does not seem to care about anything, except getting an ice cream at all times of the day.
Zero and Secco mostly discuss fights and gossip, which are Secco’s areas of interest. Secco is an eccentric individual who gets his way by claiming that doing certain things gives him nosebleeds, which is not true.
Conversations with Secco can be confusing. Even the police fail to understand him when they question him after the riot. At times, he is like a machine that keeps repeating the same thing over and over again, regardless of what the other person says to them.
Secco’s fighting skills
Secco enjoys making bombs and causing blasts. When he joins his friends to oppose the Nazis, he makes sure to bring his bombs everywhere, even to the town hall. He is too eager to use his bombs whenever he gets the opportunity.
When their group clashes with the Nazis, Secco gets into a bombing war with his Nazi counterpart, Dark Secco. During the riot, Secco is a completely different man. Zero sees him focused and alert for the first time.
Secco not only saves Zero when he gets beaten up but also fights the Nazis like an expert. In the end, he gets to use his bombs as well as exchange blows with the Nazis before he is taken to the police station with the others.
Secco’s wisdom
When Zero hesitates to go against his friends and cannot find moral meaning in the fight, Secco points out that Zero feels sorry for the life Cesare has lived. Zero thinks that he does not have any right to judge Cesare, but Secco disagrees.
Secco was an orphan who lived on the streets at the age of 15. He never had a full-time job or anyone to support him. He got himself everything, but he never took anything from people who were worse off.
Secco makes Zero understand that every person has issues in their lives, but that cannot be used as an excuse to mistreat the disadvantaged. After talking to him, Zero decides to join the others in opposing the Nazis.
Secco’s problem with Cesare
Secco has been Zero’s friend for years. He is seen with Zero most often than not. Although Zero explains everything to him several times, he does not understand why they must go to the city hall, but he still accompanies his friend.
When they were teenagers, Zero befriended Cesare. Zero believes that the addition of a new person to their friend group made Secco jealous, as Zero and Cesare became good friends.
Even 20 years later, Secco still dislikes Cesare because Secco’s feelings towards people last for a long time. Secco refuses to go to Cesare’s house with Zero and asks Zero to stop defending him when he turns out to be a Nazi.
However, when Secco’s friends find a video of Cesare hitting the politician’s son, they decide to delete the video instead of giving it to the police because Cesare has no one to support him.
They know that they will all have to face a lot of trouble, as the police need to find the person responsible, but they still decide against reporting Cesare, and Secco does not object even once.
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